Paint blisters on doors

[bargee1759]

Regarding protection film, it won't make any difference at all whether you have them fitted or not. This is a base metal/primer issue so all goes on under the paint/film/wheel arch trims, door protectors. The film will help against stone chips, but that's not the issue here. It's either crap quality already rusting steel the cars are built with or the Zinc primer/application ptocess at fault causing the inclusions. A lot of mine originally looked like spiders' webs under the paint. 

[sneznymuz]

We recently purchased a 16'  and a few days after the purchase when looking a bit closer to the lower door panels when washing the car for the first time we noticed on three doors that they had these types of blisters. While we the car was in for its 60 000km service, we also scheduled it for a damage inspection of these blisters. See: (Attached - picture of how it looks/looke)

 

During the inspection the inspector told us that this is a known issue and he asked if we want to try and make a complaint about it despite that the car was out of its warranty. If they would say no to it we would have to pay for it ourselves and then we would be quoted 3 - 5000SEK/door,  so in total 9 - 15 000SEK (750 - 1300£).

 

The inspector recommended not to use pressure washers over these parts of the door panels and that we would be as gentle as possible when cleaning these parts. We also asked him if mud guards would help to prevent it. As this isn't a result of stone chipping it wouldn't really help was his answer. However if we talk about stone chipping damages alone the mud guards would only protect the car from the flying stones generated by the car itself and not from other cars traveling around it. He recommended mud guards for people that live on the country side or for people that drive on gravel/dirt roads often.  Here in Sweden we use a lot of sand/gravel on the road during winter to get better grip. Spring is the worst seasons for our cars paint and front windows in Sweden, it's just a matter of time before we will get a cracked window or stone chips in the paint.

 

As others already pointed out in this thread it's important to have a full service history history with Skoda to be able to get a claim like this passed. The inspector also told us that when they normally fix these things they normally do the whole door panel as if you would only patch it up you would get seams in the paint that would be weak and in a long term perspective this could lead to recurring issues. So if you want a permanent or long lasting solution the way to go is to do the whole door panel.

 

Today (about 2 weeks later) we received a phone call from our Skoda service center and they told us that they would fix our doors at no cost.

Happy days!  We got an appointment in 2 weeks from today and they will have the car in for 1 week to do three doors.

 

In retrospect we should have looked much closer to the paint when buying the car, I would highly advise people that are looking to buy a Yeti to inspect the lower parts of the door panels for these blisters. If the car is dirty as ours were, ask the owner to clean the car to really get a good look at the paint.

 

All in all we're extremely happy that these will be taken care since these blisters has left us with a few nights of bad sleep. We're also very happy with how this has been handled by the service center and Skoda.

[Ootohere]

In the UK having a Full Main Dealer Service History does not stop Skoda UK employees at Customer Services / HQ from saying the car had not had Body / Paint / Corrosion Inspections.

Yet a Body Inspection is part of a Main Dealer Service on a work sheet.

 

So Skoda UK know the services were done, and also know that on the warranty T&C's that they have there is no mention of requiring body inspections annually or bi-annually.

Those Body Inspections after or during servicing were on the pages of the Service Books when they used to be with cars, 

the body inspection then went on-line for the technician to complete.

 

PS

Fixing the failure from the factory to having the cars protection / paint to factory standard can actually mean replacing the panels / doors affected.

Vorsprung durch technik.   Skoda have had years to learn that some body shop sanding / stripping panels and repainting is not the proper fix if the same issue is going to occur with the short passage of time, like in just a few years.

It is the cheap option that VW Group like.

Edited 8 May, 2020 by Roottootemblowinootsoot

[sneznymuz]

33 minutes ago, Roottootemblowinootsoot said:

In the UK having a Full Main Dealer Service History does not stop Skoda UK employees at Customer Services / HQ from saying the car had not had Body / Paint / Corrosion Inspections.

Yet a Body Inspection is part of a Main Dealer Service on a work sheet.

 

So Skoda UK know the services were done, and also know that on the warranty T&C's that they have there is no mention of requiring body inspections annually or bi-annually.

Those Body Inspections after or during servicing were on the pages of the Service Books when they used to be with cars, 

the body inspection then went on-line for the technician to complete.

Here are all service books digital on modern cars and when it comes to the service we had at 60 000km it wasn’t included to do any check ups on the paint or body. And when checking in the service history I can’t find any notes about checking the paint during these services. Body work and general service is two different departments at the dealers here with different work schedules. So it’s sometimes tricky to match times with both these departments. We asked specifically to get a damage inspection along with our service, as we were concerned about the bubbles.

 

After reading that some people had to wait months to just get replies, I feel happy that we only had to wait two weeks despite of corona and that we will have it fixed fairly fast compared to others.

 

As reference we asked around how much an average paint shop would charge us and we got quoted 10-20 000 SEK from a few different ones.
 

A different Skoda dealer told us straight up (talked via email) without any inspection that they could repaint two doors for 8000SEK (discounted) actual was 10 500SEK.

Edited 8 May, 2020 by sneznymuz
Wrong text

[Ootohere]

The Body Inspection at a service is not carried out be anyone from a Body Shop and not a qualified painter or panel beater, It is done by a Technician / Fitter in the Workshop and should be done on the ramp and on the floor.

Actually it should be a check by an unqualified receptionist as the car is handed in / keys handed in,  that is just to check no obvious damage.

That is also why cars should be presented clean, and any Free Wash should be before a Service / Inspection and not after.

 

'Inspection of bodywork'  as shown mean 'inspecting the bodywork for any damage, poor repair or corrosion / defects.

Not all Dealerships have 'Body shops'. 

 

For Warranty claims.  Report, they can have a Technician or Warranty Manager / Workshop manager look, photograph, report to Skoda.

Skoda can arrange an Inspection from a Professional @ a Dealership, your place of choice by a professional or an approved repairer / bodyshop.

As it was in the UK there were those that Skoda commissioned, only issue was those professionals were independent and Skoda UK did not always agree with their Professional report and preferred some Desk Jockey with clerical training to reject the claims.

 

 

 

Edited 8 May, 2020 by Roottootemblowinootsoot

[sneznymuz]

11 minutes ago, Roottootemblowinootsoot said:

The Body Inspection at a service is not carried out be anyone from a Body Shop and not a qualified painter or panel beater, It is done by a Technician / Fitter in the Workshop and should be done on the ramp and on the floor.

Actually it should be a check by an unqualified receptionist as the car is handed in / keys handed in,  that is just to check no obvious damage.

That is also why cars should be presented clean, and any Free Wash should be before a Service / Inspection and not after.

 

'Inspection of bodywork'  as shown mean 'inspecting the bodywork for any damage, poor repair or corrosion / defects.

Not all Dealerships have 'Body shops'. 

The 10 year rust warranty is just from the inside out.

 

As I stated the warranty is expired (paint 3y)

 

feel free to google translate what is done in our services in Sweden - Link

If so you will see that no external inspection is conducted.

 

The inspector we had works with coordinating clients with the body shop and the service part and he has experience from working in both departments.

[Ootohere]

@sneznymuz I think we all know what the Corrosion Warranty is and the Paint Warranty in any language be it German, Czech, English or Chinese.

 

The issue is Skoda pretending that a factory protective coating process is just to be covered within a Warranty Period.

There is a known issue and Skoda CZ know all about it.

So they are doing nobody a favour, they are just correcting mistakes taken in their factories by their staff that should be picked up on at the earliest by their appointed Dealerships staff.

 

No ifs or buts, they know what the fault is, why and what needs doing.  Vorsprung Durch Technik should translate OK to Czech.

 

PS

As to that Service items common to models in Sweden.  Final inspection has to be meaning something and not just a look see to check if there are grubby fingerprints.

 

If anyone in Sweden says that Main Dealer Servicing records are important to be getting faults rectified there has to be a system of checking during services that should pick up on issues that manufacturing faults or poorly carried out repairs to paint or sealing of panels 

and the cars platform / underneath.  Cavities etc.

Edited 8 May, 2020 by Roottootemblowinootsoot

[sneznymuz]

11 minutes ago, Roottootemblowinootsoot said:

@sneznymuz I think we all know what the Corrosion Warranty is and the Paint Warranty in any language be it German, Czech, English or Chinese.

 

The issue is Skoda pretending that a factory protective coating process is just to be covered within a Warranty Period.

There is a known issue and Skoda CZ know all about it.

So they are doing nobody a favour, they are just correcting mistakes taken in their factories by their staff that should be picked up on at the earliest by their appointed Dealerships staff.

 

No ifs or buts, they know what the fault is, why and what needs doing.  Vorsprung Durch Technik should translate OK to Czech.

 

PS

As to that Service items common to models in Sweden.  Final inspection has to be meaning something and not just a look see to check if there are grubby fingerprints.

 

If anyone in Sweden says that Main Dealer Servicing records are important to be getting faults rectified there has to be a system of checking during services that should pick up on issues that manufacturing faults or poorly carried out repairs to paint or sealing of panels 

and the cars platform / underneath.  Cavities etc.

As I stated we lifted our concerns about the paint with the dealer and their procedure was to book us a separate damage inspection. Along side with our 60 000km service as this isn’t part of the service. Feel free to contact Skoda Sweden if you have any complaints or questions about this or our dealer because I sure don’t have any issues with how this is being handled.

 

If you want the contact details to our dealer I can provide it to you via PM.

 

If not I wish you a nice weekend.

[Ootohere]

@sneznymuz You maybe misunderstand. 

I have no issues with how you were dealt with in Sweden, i am pointing out that Skoda UK are dealing differently now from what they were a few years back, and from customer to customer.

 

Your car is a 2016 vehicle and should not have had the issues from the production line that were supposed to have been dealt with years earlier.

 

Your experience should be of a great help to owners in Sweden.

 

Main Dealer Servicing is not required in the EU as there is a free market and as to regular body inspections that is not in the T&C's of warranties and vehicles need to be of merchantable quality and as you were told 'it is a known issue'.  

Those that know are Skoda, Warranty Managers, Dealership staff that bother to know the product & also repairers.

Edited 11 May, 2020 by Roottootemblowinootsoot

[sneznymuz]

Got the car back today and everything went fine and we are happy with the result so far.

 

In the end it was all free as it was taken care of by VAG. The total cost to re-paint

three doors would have been 20 000SEK (1700£). The work took 1 week + 1 night to complete and we got a 1 year warranty on the paint job and parts. 

[AdventureYeti]

I have a 2013 Skoda Adventure in Candy White - I started to fix rust issues on the offside drivers door and passengers door last week - the main issue seemed to be the vertical rubber seal with metal inside which runs up the passenger door (5L0839431L and 5L0839432L) and is part of the passenger window seal. The metal had corroded into white powder (aluminium?) and caused trapped water to make both car door bottom corners rust. I also had what I thought were stone chips rusted, but now reading this I can see they were blisters (and there are more popping!) - I sanded and treated the car with rust treatment, then Halfords primer, candy white, and lacquer.

 

I now realise I should have gone to the dealership first 🤦🏼‍♂️ Even at 7 years old.
 

Looking on the near side, I have the same issue with the vertical passenger seal, and also rust going along the underside edge of the passenger door - and also rust appearing just below where they have thwacked on some transparent wheel archer plastic sticker protector(?).

 

has anyone had experience maintaining these rust spots as and when they appear? Or is it an endless battle and a full professional job on all doors should be done?

 

(I did initially take the car to a spray shop “we have a rule not to treat rust, it always comes back”)

 

PS - this Yeti (owned since 2 years and 10 months old) has been my worst car purchase to date (and I’ve owned a Peugeot and a Renault which were no fun) - I’ve had the driver airbag malfunction and need replacing (£300), and also the hugely expensive clutch snap and wear into the gearbox (£2200)... and now I’m watching the paint fall off 😬🤷‍♂️ - I also have a weird thing where gaffer tape is used to stick an air intake down to stop the car sounding like a kazoo at exactly 1500 revs. 
 

I have everything crossed that I don’t suffer from other known (yet unknown to me 😂) common issues!...
 

the corroded seal - I’ve cut off about 50mm - Part No’s 5L0839431L and 5L0839432L

 

the sanded back corner damage

 

attempted DIY repair with Halfords own cans - will this be an endless battle?

 

[kenfowler3966]

My 2014 greenline was suffering there and had to be repaired before it was returned to the lease company at 3 years old. The seal seems to rub through the paint at the bottom of the rear door.

[sneznymuz]

On 07/06/2020 at 21:11, AdventureYeti said:

has anyone had experience maintaining these rust spots as and when they appear? Or is it an endless battle and a full professional job on all doors should be done?

After we discovered bubbles on our Yeti we did some research on various forums, Facebook groups etc and those that had similar issues and had it professionally fixed said that the blister came back after a few years.

We got 1 year warranty on the job that was made so I'm gonna monitor the development on these fixes that we had but I'm sure if something will develop it will probably do so later on.

Yours however seems like a different issue but I can imagine that it might re-occur again later too.

With that said it seems like you did a very good paint job. Do you have some more pictures of the doors?

[AdventureYeti]

2 hours ago, sneznymuz said:

With that said it seems like you did a very good paint job. Do you have some more pictures of the doors?

 

Below are some shots of the rust spots after jet washing (surprisingly hadn't noticed them before) - I think the paint job with the spray cans has worked out really well for me simply because it's a white car - up close you can see the indentations of the original spots, but looking down or a metre or two away, you wouldn't really know without squinting.

 

Just to recap, I used Hammerite Kurust to treat the exposed metal, and I used Halfords own brand primer, and own brand Candy White, and own brand lacquer to fix.

 

 

This shows the two blisters which came off when I was power washing 😣

 

 

The one at the bottom was so perfectly round?! 🤪

 

 

And with the full door, you can see how far apart all the rust is (this was taken later after I tried to use a touch up brush! 😆 (Whats interesting here is the evidence I also missed, which are the running white water stains going down the sills between the doors 😣)

 

 

This is my favourite shot - the fixed corners with over spray! Thankfully my weekend nail polish remover made short work of that rookie mistake 💅 - you can still make out the change in paintwork depth if you look long and hard enough, and I think this is before the lacquer and final rubbing compound.